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Dafney Harper

Monday, June 8, 2015

Where has the time gone? How is that Hendrix {a.k.a. little man} is already 10+ weeks old? Time is flying at warp speed and it makes me want to cry. I'm trying so hard to soak up every second with Hendrix {& Dafney}, so to know we're already 10 weeks in as a family of four amazes me.

What's less amazing is that I haven't blog a thing since little man was born. YIKES! That changes now. I'm here to take a trip down memory lane and recap little man's birth story!If you remember, I was put on bed rest at about 34 weeks. It was TOUGH to "rest" {right, what Mother can really rest with a 3 year old running around}, but I did the best I could. The night before H was born, it was business as usual. I was feeling okay, but knew that there was NO way I would make it to 39 weeks, when my c-section was scheduled. I remember sitting on the couch with the Hubby & Dafney and having an overwhelming feeling that this would be one of our last nights as a family of 3. And, that feeling was right!

I didn't sleep well that night. I was up every couple hours to go to the bathroom. I really woke up a bit after 5am thinking something might be happening. I was getting some odd feelings in my belly. After this happened a few times, I started to time them and sure enough, they were coming every 5 minutes. The hubby was starting to wake up, so I told him what I was feeling. He whipped out his phone and started timing them for me. He confirmed that whatever was happening was coming every 5 minutes. He told me I should probably call the Dr. and he got up and started to pack our Hospital bag.I called the Dr. and she said that I should head in to the Hospital. So, I called my parents to let them know so they could meet us at the Hospital to get Dafney. Hubby got Dafney out of bed and got her ready. We got to the Hospital about 6:30am and they hooked me up to the monitors and confirmed I was in labor. I hadn't really progressed much since my doctor visit that previous Wednesday, but they gave me the option to try natural labor or to have the c-section. After much thought, I decided to stick with the 'plan' and go ahead with the c-section. A bit before 9am, the Dr. came in to chat with me about the procedure, etc. and before long, I was walking into the OR, anxious to meet our new baby!

Before long, I was prepped and they were ready to start. I have to say, the OR staff was AMAZING! They kept me calm during the whole procedure. About 15 minutes after they started, I heard our baby cry and it was an amazing sound! There really isn't anything as beautiful as the first cry of your baby. They brought the baby around the corner and said, congratulations, you have a son! I was pretty sure we'd have another girl, so I was completely shocked and beyond excited to see we had a boy! It brought tears to my eyes. He was perfect and I was in love all over again.

After they cleaned him up, weighed him, etc. the Nurse brought him to me and let me hold him. It was one of the best moments of my life! When we had Dafney, I wasn't able to hold her until I got into the recovery room. With Hendrix, I was able to hold him for about 15-20 minutes. Just before I was ready to head to recovery, the Nurse took Hendrix & Kyle out of the OR and into the recovery area.

Since H was exactly 4 weeks early, they were amazed at how well he was doing. He weighed in at a whopping 6lbs 3oz and was 19.5 inches long! I'm sure they always say this to parents, but he was a CHAMP! They said that everything with his birth went so well, especially for a pre-term baby.

After about an hour in recover, they wheeled us up to our room. I have to admit, I was a bit apprehensive about our Hospital stay since our Hospital stay with Dafney did not go well. When we got into our room, we met our Nurse and she was explaining how the bracelets work {which was new since having D}. We told her about our experience with D and she knew the story and said that after that incident, they changed a bunch of things with their processes and procedures. What a relief! Not long after we were in our room, BIG SISTER, Dafney came to visit with Grandma and Grandpa. I think Dafney was a bit scared when she saw the room and realized I was hooked up to all sorts of machines. She was probably overwhelmed and she was definitely tired. We snagged her out of bed a lot earlier than she's used to, plus she had a full day at her little friend's birthday party...but, watching her hold her new baby brother was absolutely priceless!

She truly is the best big sister ever {but that deserves a blog post of it's very own...coming soon}! I just love seeing the kids together! After they left, Kyle & I rested and soaked up every second with our new SON!

That night, little man got his first bath! He was a champ!

We went to bed fairly early that night, but we quickly realized that little man did NOT like sleeping in the bassinet. So, I held him for a good part of the night. I loved having him in my arms!

Sunday, Hendrix had his first visit with the Pediatrician and he said that he looked great! He had his hearing test and passed with flying colors. The only other big thing he had to pass was the car seat test. Since he was considered pre-term, he had to be able to sit in the car seat for an 1.5 hours without having any breathing issues. Other than being small and needing to have blankets on either side of his head in the car seat, he passed no problem!

Dafney, Grandma & Grandpa came for another visit late Sunday morning and it was SO much better for Dafney! She kissed and hugged the little man than I thought possible! It was so heart-warming to see!

After everyone left, Kyle and I got some rest, watched some College hoops and enjoyed some more one-on-one time with the little man!

Again, I slept with the little man and it was one of the best nights sleeps I've had with him. Our night-time nurse was amazing and she only woke me once to take my pain-meds. Otherwise, she let us sleep, which was amazing!!

Monday, I was finally starting to feel pretty good and was walking around well. It felt good to get out of bed and move around. I felt more like "me" and that was a good feeling.

We had one more visit from Dafney and G & G on Monday! The Hospital gives every family a cake to celebrate the birth of their little ones, so we enjoyed some cake. Happy BIRTH DAY Hendrix!

Monday was just another day for us to rest and spend quality time with Hendrix! Our Hospital stay was SO much better this time around. The Nurses were AWESOME and we were so happy to have everything go smoothly!

We were; however, ready to head home and start our new life as a family of 4. We were discharged around noon on Tuesday. The little man looked so small in the car seat.

We have absolutely loved being a family of 4 and we have all adjusted well to our new lifestyle...especially little Miss Dafney! She's been a rockstar and truly is the BEST big sister. Ever.